Crossing Over
Joshua 3.10-17
Parallels,
Desert of Sin or the wilderness of sin where they have wandered because of their idol worship, disbelief and lack of faith… Crossing over to the Promised Land Led by Joshua
Jesus = Joshua
The Covenant
· The What
o Promises Made
§ Old Testament covenants
· The Noahic Covenant of Genesis chapter 9
· The Abrahamic covenant, found in Genesis 12-17
· The Mosaic Covenant, beginning in Exodus 19-24
· This river crossing is the result of and part of these OT
o Promises Kept (how can they know and trust)
§ They knew by the promises kept
· Manna and quail
· Deliverance from Egypt
· They had become a great nation
§ Fulfillment and New Testament Covenant
· Genesis 12.1-3
· Luke 22:14-20
o John 1.10-12
o
· The Who (How could they trust? Just as important is who made the promise)
o The Living God
§ They could see and sense His presence
§ In the same way we can trust
o The immutable God
§ “In the beginning you laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands. They will perish, but you remain; they will all wear out like a garment. Like clothing you will change them and they will be discarded. But you remain the same, and your years will never end. ” (Psalm 102:25–27, NIV)
§ The same is true for us: “being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. ” (Philippians 1:6, NIV)
· The Where (the where… Where does this covenant belong?)
o It goes before you
o In the same way it should go before us
§ We should see the world through what Jesus did
§ We should see the world through who Jesus is
§ We should see ourselves as Jesus does
§ The covenant that God made with us should be in and through all we do
Segue: in other words the covenant should be seen in our conduct:
The Conduct
· To Follow Behind
o Often we rush ahead of God to places we should not go
o To follow one must watch
· To Step Out in Faith
o The water stopped when the feet of the priest touched it.
o Some of us are waiting for dry land but God says step where I tell you and it will be dry when you get there…
§ As a witness to what God can do
§ As a witness to what faith can do
· George Muller
· To Stand in the Gap
o Verse 17
o In the same way, we as God’s People carrying the covenant of the Gospel or the Good News of Jesus Christ MUST stand by faith in the river of the uncertainty of this world and face the adversity of the flood waters to provide dry ground for others to cross
The Consequence